Snow removal device



March 13, 1962 G. WL'CLARK ETAL SNOW REMOVAL DEVICE Filed Sept. 16. 1959 INVENTORS GLEN W. CLARK JOSEPH M. EDELEN rates Patent 3,024,545 SNOW REMOVAL DEVICE Glen W. Clark, 409 Cedar St., West Carrollton, and Joseph M. Edelen, RR. 6, Xenia, Ohio Filed Sept. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 840,457 4 Claims. ((31. 37-41) This invention relates to a snow removal device and is particularly concerned with a combination snow removal device and lawn mower which can readily be converted from one type of function to the other.

Many attempts have been made to convert mowers, particularly rotary mowers to snow removal devices so that in the winter driveways and sidewalks can be kept cleared of snow. Heretofore, such devices have not met with success because they have either been expensive or they have operated inefliciently either as mowers, snow removal devices or both. In the main, it is the rotary type mowers which are converted and one of the particular objections has been in connection with snow removal devices, which have been arrived at by converting rotary mowers, is that the snow, rather than being removed by the device is merely churned up by the circular motion of the tool on the underside of the mower and thus no effective removal of the snow is obtained.

A particular object of the present invention is the provision of a mechanism which can readily be converted from mowing operations to snow removing operations and which will function efficiently for both types of operations.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a mowing device having a cutter arrangement in which the cutter arrangement can be removed and replaced with a highly efficient snow removing tool to be driven by the same motor as drives the cutting arrangement.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a convertible snow removal-lawn mowing device in which the snow removed by the device is driven laterally of the device so that it can readily be discharged through a side opening thereof.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a convertible snow removal-lawn mowing device in which the actual cutting elements for the mowing device and the elements which effect movement of the snow are detachable so that they can be replaced or resharpened or otherwise worked wi'thout dismantling the entire mechanism.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a lawn mower mechanism that can be converted for snow removal and which is characterized in being adapted for handling snow even when it is deposited to considerable depth. It is also an object of this invention to pro vide a snow removal device which is highly effective for removing snow completely down to the surface from which the snow is to be removed.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a convertible lawnmower snow-removal device according to our invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the mechanism looking up from beneath when it is converted for snow removal operations;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing a snow moving blade that is utilized when it is used for snow removing;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing an adjustable brush which operates with a snow removal device;

FIGURE 5 is a view looking at the side of a drive chain forming a part of the mechanism illustrating the cooperation of the snow removing blade and the brush;

FIGURE 6 is a side view at the front end of the device showing a hinged door at the forward end of the device which can be raised when the device is used for snow removal;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view indicated by line 7-7 on FIGURE 1 showing an adjustable idler sprocket about which the drive chain passes;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view showing a cutter blade that is mounted on the chain when the device is used for mowing;

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of a cutting blade similar to the one illustrated in FIGURE 8 except that it is provided with double edges so that it can be reversed on the chain; and

FIGURE 10 is a view looking up from beneath the device when it is utilized as a mower and also illustrating how wheels can be mounted externally of the frame as a protective measure when the device is used as a mower.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail the arrangement illustrated in FIGURE 1 comprises a housing 10 on which is mounted a motor 12. There are wheels at 14 at the rear end of the device and a manipulating handle structure 16 extends upwardly and backwardly from frame 10.

As will be seen in FIGURE 2 there are also supporting wheels 18 located inside the housing so that the housing is adequately supported on four distributed wheels.

Motor 12 has an output shaft 20, which will be seen in FIGURE 2, which extends downwardly through the top wall of housing 10. A sprocket 22 is mounted on shaft 20 and there are also mounted on the underneath side of the top wall of housing 10 the idler sprockets 24 and 26 which are laterally spaced toward the front end of the device. A roller chain 28 is mounted on sprockets 22, 24, and 26 and the chain can be maintained taut as by adjustment of sprocket 24 along the slot 30 provided in the top Wall of housing It). The sprocket is carried in a bearing bracket 32 that is secured in its adjusted positions along the slot as by the bolts 34.

Chain 28, when the device is used for snow removal operations, is provided with spaced blade members 36 of which there are three in the modification illustrated, and interposed between the blade members 36 are brush members 38. These members, of course, move with the chain and will move laterally at the front end of the device as indicated by arrow 46 in FIGURE 2. As these members move laterally at the front end of the device the snow is carried laterally across the mower thereby and when the blades and brushes flip around sprocket 26 the snow is discharged as indicated by arrow 42 in FIGURE 2 through a lateral opening provided in a side wall of the casing 10 and which opening has a curved guide blade 44 at one side.

One of the blades 36 is illustrated in FIGURE 3 where it will be noted that the blade has a support bracket portion 46 projecting from one side which will embrace the chain 28 and be retained thereon by a pin 48 that will drop through one of the hollow pins that connects adjoining links of the chain. In certain chains, where solid pins are employed the pin 4-8 will actually form the connection between the adjacent links of the chain.

It will be understood that pin 48 could be like a cotter pin so that the lower end could be spread in order to prevent the pin from becoming dislodged from the chain or it could be secured thereto by other means such as by a nut. 7

FIGURE 4 shows one of the brush elements 38 and this is adapted for being attached to the chain in the same manner as the blade element by means of the bracket 50. The brush element consists of a blade portion 52 having slots 54 therein and attached to the lower end of the blade is the brush member proper 56 which 3 is adjustable on the blade by means of bolts 58 which extend through the slots 54-. By having the element 56 adjustable on blade 52 the brush can be moved downwardly as it wears so that it will always contact the surface being cleaned.

The brush element 38, it will be noted, is also substantially balanced on opposite sides of the plane of the chain.

The device is illustrated in FIGURE 2 with snow removing blades and brushes on the chain and the manner in which the device operates during snow removing is diagrammatically illustrated in FIGURE 5. In this figure it will be noted that blade 36 removes the upper portion 59 of a layer of snow resting on a surface 60 while the brush member trailing the said blade removes the residue of the snow which is indicated at 62.. The particular spacing of the blade 36 from surface 60 can be adjusted in the same manner as the cutting height during mowing to determine the amount of snow remaining for the brush member to move.

A feature of the present invention when it is utilized as a snow removing device is that all of the supporting Wheels of the device run within the region cleaned by the device and in trailing relation to the transverse reach of the chain which is effective for removing snow so that the wheels do not tend to pack the snow down in advance of the snow removing device.

The front wall of the casing is in the form of a door 68 pivotally connected with the casing of the tool by the hinges 66. This door is lowered for mowing operations so as to close the periphery of the casing except for the lateral discharge opening 44 but during snow removing operations, the tool is elevated and can be retained in adjusted positions by the brace arm 70 and the screw 71. By inclining the door 68 at an angle, snow that is higher than the casing can be pushed downwardly and into the casing so that it will be thrown laterally from the side opening 44.

When the device is to be used as a mower either the blades and brushes referred to above are removed and replaced by cutting blades or preferably, the sprocket 24 is moved inwardly and the entire chain is dropped off and replaced by another chain, indicated at 72 in FIG- URE 10. This chain 72 is provided with a plurality of cutter blades 75 which are attached to the chain in'the same manner as described in connection with blades 36 and brushes 38.

One such blade is indicated in FIGURE 8 where it will be seen that the blade is formed of a fiat piece of steel with the two legged chain engaging bracket portion 74 thereof integral with the blade portion 76. The blade portion 76 comprises a sharpened leading edge 78 and a somewhat turned up trailing edge 80 so that a fan action is had that will tend to lift the grass being cut and which will also tend to hold the clippings of the grass in suspension so that they become chopped up very finely and will at least in part be thrown out through the side opening of the mower.

The cutter blade could be formed as in FIGURE 9 wherein both edges as at 82 and 34 are sharpened whereupon the cutter is reversible on the chain after one side becomes dull and the life of the cutter substantially doubled.

As it will be noted in FIGURE 10, the casing 10 may be provided with other wheels 86 when the device is used as a mower. The inside wheels 18 may at this time be removed or they may be left in place if desired. The provision of the wheels 86 provides a safety feature that will prevent the mower from being pushed into places where the cutters might become damaged. When used as a snow removal device it is preferred for the wheels 86 to be removed because then all four of the wheels remaining will run within the area that is cleaned of snow thereby avoiding packing down of the snow by the wheels which would greatly increase the difiiculty of removing the snow.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that what is provided by our invention is a device, which resembles a rotary power lawn mower but in which the cutting device is substantially different in that it comprises a chain with a transverse reach and which chain can be replaced with another chain having snow removing elements thereon or which chain is adapted for receiving the snow receiving elements itself. Both grass cutting and snow removing operations are carried out in such a manner that the residue of the operations are thrown laterally through the side wall of the casing thus making for highly efficient operating conditions.

All of the individual parts of the device which are subject to Wear and which must therefore occasionally be replaced or serviced are readily accessible and are relatively inexpensive. Such elements comprise the chain, the cutters and the snow removal blades and brushes. A particularly advantageous feature of this invention is the adjustability of the brush element so that they can always be brought into engagement with the surface being treated.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions; and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a device adapted for being converted from grass mowing to snow removing operation and vice versa; a casing comprising a generally horizontal upper wall and a skirt portion dependent from the periphery theerof, said casing having a front wall pivoted thereto adapted for being moved upwardly so as to provide an open front on the casing for snow removing operations or a closed front thereon for grass mowing operations, a drive motor mounted on top of said upper wall of the casing toward the rear of the casing, a plurality of sprockets in the same horizontal plane in distributed relation on the under side of the top wall of the casing and including one mounted on the drive shaft of said motor and also including a pair of sprockets in laterally spaced relation toward the front of the casing, one of said sprockets being adjustably supported on the casing, a chain mounted about said sprockets so as to run in a horizontal plane when the motor is operating and including a transverse reach between said pair of sprockets, and blade elements mounted on said chain in spaced relation therealong and in planes perpendicular to the length of the chain operable for moving snow laterally along the said transverse reach of said chain, there being vertical brush elements connected with the chain between said blade elements operable for brushing the residue of snow from the surface being worked and moving it transversely along the transverse reach of the said chain, said brush elements projecting downwardly to a lower level than said blade elements whereby the blade elements remove all of the snow above a predetermined level while the brush elements remove the remainder of the snow from a surface below said predetermined level.

2. In a device convertible from grass mowing to snow removing operations; a casing comprising a substantially horizontal upper wall and a skirt portion dependent therefrom on the sides and back, a door extending laterally across the front of the casing and movable thereon so that it can be lowered to close the front of the casing for mowing operations and be elevated to expose the front end of the casing for snow removing operations, a drive motor mounted on the upper wall of said casing toward the rear thereof in about the center and having a drive shaft extending through the upper wall of the casing to the under side of the said upper wall, a pair of laterally spaced first sprockets beneath said upper wall toward the front thereof behind the said front wall of the casing and coplanar with each other, a third sprocket coplanar with the first sprockets mounted on the output shaft of the motor, a chain mounted on said sprockets, one of said first sprockets being adjustable for maintaining the chain taut, and tool elements detachably mounted on said chain for mowing grass and moving snow as the chain moves laterally between said first sprockets, there being a lateral opening in the side wall of the casing toward which said chain moves between said first sprockets laterally aligned with said chain, said opening having an arcuate wall portion at the trailing side thereof that curves inwardly from the casing side wall toward the adjacent one of said first sprockets and the inner most end of which is slightly spaced from the ends of tool elements carried on said chain after the chain has passed around the adjacent one of the said first sprockets.

3. In a portable motor driven tool arrangement; a wheel supported casing, a drive motor on a casing having an output shaft extending to the underneath side thereof, spaced sprockets all in one and the same horizontal plane on the under side of the casing including one mounted on said output shaft, a chain supported on said sprockets, said sprockets being arranged to provide one reach of the chain extending in a lateral direction at the front end of the casing, and blade means mounted on the chain in spaced relation therealong and projecting outwardly therefrom, each blade having a two-legged support portion embracing the chain and detachably connected therewith, said blades each having a working portion extending outwardly from the support portion in a direction generally parallel with the plane of the chain and having a sharpened leading edge, said working portion being symmetrical about a center line passing through the center of the support thereof and through said chain so as to be reversible on the chain and being inclined downwardly toward the direction of movement thereof and having both the leading and trailing edges thereof sharpened.

4. In a portable motor driven tool arrangement; a wheel supported casing, a drive motor on a casing having an output shaft extending to the underneath side thereof, spaced sprockets on the under side of the casing including one mounted on said output shaft, all of said sprockets being in one and the same horizontal plane, a chain supported on said sprockets, said sprockets being arranged to provide one reach of the chain extending in a lateral direction, and blade elements spaced along the chain and projecting outwardly therefrom, said blade elements being fiat extending plate-like members located in planes perpendicular to the direct-ion of movement of the blade elements, and brush elements attached to the bottom edges of alternate ones of said blade elements and projecting downwardly to below the plane in which the bottom edges of the blade elements move.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 396,038 Hall Jan. 8, 1889 538,057 Willson Apr. 23, 1895 2,578,880 Doyle Dec. 18, 1951 2,768,454 Schmechel Oct. 30, 1956 2,782,582 McClearen Feb. 26, 1957 2,863,162 Draughon Dec. 9, 1958 

